A surface protector when hammering nails is essential for the preservation of valuable surfaces of the work (In this context, the work is defined as the object being nailed, typically made of wood or other relevant materials). Any extra functionality a surface protector can add to the nailing process will save valuable construction time. Three general trends in nail holding can be seen in an evolution of design leading to the Invention described in this application. These three trends are plier holders and vertical guides and rams. In a few inventions both nail striking and the nail pulling functions are provided. Only in this invention are these two functions integrated into one location. Considering that the nail that needs pulling is more often than not the nail that has just been struck it is advantageous to have the two functions available at the same spot yet important to neither compromise an unencumbered striking surface or the ability to extract nails.
The action of the nail-holding hand when nailing can be mimicked with pliers. Rion (US 2004/0035255: Feb. 26, 2004) describes a pair of pliers modified to hold various gauges of nail. Harris (U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,303: Apr. 13, 1999) had already patented a plier design that added a spring between the plier handles for ease of disengagement, and McIlvenna (US 2005/0051000: Mar. 10, 2005) describes a plier design that also has a spring but lacks a means of accommodating differing gauge of nails. All plier designs suffer from three shortcomings. The first shortcoming becomes apparent when the nail is misstruck across a plier blade. This can trap the plier blade. Although it is possible to lever up the nail this would gouge the work surface beneath. The second shortcoming is that striking at the nail may result in a striking on the plier blades themselves resulting in a painful capture of the fingers holding the pliers between the work surface and the handles. The third shortcoming is the inability to guide the nail in such that striking is still possible to the point where the gap remaining between the work surface and the nail head approximates the gauge of the nail itself. The disadvantage of having to extract the nail guide before reaching this gap is that the nail has plenty of opportunity to bend upon further striking.
This last disadvantage works against the utility of the vertical guide design school of nail holders. Peck (U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,025: Nov. 15, 1988) patented a variety of shoeing tool in which the nail simply sits in a cross-sectioned hole equipped with a handle. No accommodation for nail gauge is possible. Meitzler (US 2006/0101948: May 18, 2006) describes a similar vertical guide and Lee (U.S. Pat. No. 7,467,573: Dec. 23, 2008) dispenses with a handle altogether in favour of a pinch type hold. All three devices do not permit close nailing. All three devices make no provision for nail pulling. All three devices have the potential for marking of the wood if struck directly. It would seem that the sole purpose of these vertical guides is to protect fingers.
The ram approach to nailing guides consisting of impact upon the top end of a narrow barrel overlaying the nail suffers many disadvantages. There is limited means of accommodating different gauges of nail. It is difficult to avoid damage to the work surface since the barrel as seen in Stephens (US 2007/0051208: Mar. 8, 2007) is small and likely to damage the work surface just as high heeled shoes do damage to wooden boat decks. The ratio between force and surface area is too small to prevent damage to the work surface. Other variants of the barrel approach make some accommodation for protection as in Rafaeli (US 2007/0181630: Aug. 9, 2007) yet the terminal area of the guide hitting the work surface is still small with respect to the gauge of the nail. This is likely to cause damage to the work surface. More importantly the possibility of nail failure within the barrel itself leads to a high likelihood of the guide failing owing the presence of a bent or broken nail jammed within the barrel. The barrel approach also offers no means of nail pulling.
Some devices attempt to provide the functionality of nail striking and nail pulling on the same tool. Weber (US 2003/0222251: Dec. 4 2003) provides a convex curve slotted to hold apparently only one gauge of nail. The bottom of the tool head is flat against the work surface. The convex curve does provide a physical lever surface against which to engage the claws of a hammer. The location of the slot within this convex curve on the top of the tool presents a highly encumbered area for striking. This leads to a higher risk of bent nails since the hammer head will glance across the nail if the side of the hammer head hits the steep convex rise. Rieck (U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,070: Feb. 8, 1994) reverts to the vertical guide to drive nails. This design is improved by the provision of an additional slot that will allow for closer nailing once one or more nails have been driven partway into the wood using the vertical guides. This last design has many disadvantages that are educational. The first is that the device must be replaced for close nailing. The second is that there is no means of extracting the device in case of entrapment by bent nail or nails. Unlike the device suggested by Weber there is no physical lever seat for the hammer claw to engage against in the case of nail pulling. Finally there is no protection for the work surface in either the case of nail pulling or in the case of misstrike on the device itself.
The nailing aid in this Application offers a true aid through a plurality of functions which can be better appreciated in contrast with pre-existing patents and patent applications.
1. Protection of the Hand.
The Invention in this Application allows for protection of the hand by offering gripping in the form of a three dimensional handle without risk of compression on the fingers as in the pliers group of nail guide designs.
2. Close Nailing.
Nailing down to a gap approximating the nail gauge between the work surface and the nail head is made possible through the slim profile of the nail grip feature. This allows for safe flush nailing using a nail set that is conveniently stored within the tool handle. This is in contrast to the majority of vertical guides which only allow for partial striking in of the nail owing to the height of the vertical channel. Those guides can be removed for further striking of the nail but the remaining gap is so great that the chance of a bent nail is correspondingly great.
3. Nail Holding.
The two layer design of the striking surface allows for a nail to be inserted in the bifurcated slit such that the shock absorbing material of the lower layer grips to the nail shaft and the slightly wider confines of the slot in the hard plastic layer above work to keep the nail perpendicular to the work surface being nailed. None of the guides described above allows for variation in nail gauge within the limits of the slot.
4. Tool Withdrawal.
Should the nail be misstruck the slight ramp on the striking surface of the tool allows for the nailing aid to be worked free. Otherwise the tool would be nailed to the work surface as would be the case for the Inventions described in the majority of existing patents.
5. Nail Pulling.
If a nail is misstruck and needs to be pulled the claws of the hammer can lever up the ramp of the striking surface and then engage against the recessed flat upper surface of the tool for good leverage. Novelty arises in the integration of an unencumbered striking surface with a device for engaging the hammer claws.
6. Work Surface Protection.
Either through misstriking directly on the nailing aid or while pulling out a nail with the hammer the underlying shock absorbing material provides protection against damage to the work surface.
7. Broad Striking Surface:
The invention offers an unrestricted striking surface for easy nailing.
Some of these features are novel unto themselves but the integration of features into a nailing aid that allows for easy nailing and easy extraction whilst protecting the hands and the work surface contribute to the Claims to novelty of this Invention.